by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

This spring brings two new films from the hottie - The Place Beyond the Pines, opening March 29 and co-starring his real-life girlfriend, Eva Mendes, and Only God Forgives in May.

"I've been doing it too much," he says, talking acting in an interview with AP writer Jake Coyle. "I've lost perspective on what I'm doing. I think it's good for me to take a break and reassess why I'm doing it and how I'm doing it. And I think this is probably a good way to learn about that. I need a break from myself as much as I imagine the audience does."

But before he takes that break, check out his tattoos in The Place Beyond the Pines. He plays a motorbike rider in a traveling circus who turns to bank robbing to support his child.

"One thing that kind of handed me the key to the character was that I totally overdid it with the tattoos," says Gosling, 32.

"I said to (director) Derek (Cianfrance), 'I've got to lose this face tattoo. It's the worst. It's so distracting and it's going to ruin everything.' And he said, 'Well, I'm sure that's how people with face tattoos feel. So now you have to pay the consequences of your actions.' So I had to do the whole film with it and now see it on posters. It gave me a sense of shame that I feel was inherent to the character."